The latest entry in the thin-and-light Ultrabook lineup is HP's new Folio13, a 13-inch laptop with a 128GB solid-state drive that undercuts Apple's MacBook Air with a starting price of $900.

HP's first "business Ultrabook" is the latest entry in the reference design spearheaded by chipmaker Intel. Ultrabooks aim to compete with Apple's highly successful MacBook Air lineup, which now represents 28 percent of the company's notebook shipments.

Available starting Dec. 7 for $899.99, the HP Folio13 boasts up to 9 hours of battery life and comes with a 128GB solid-state drive. Its design is less than 18 millimeters thin and the Folio13 weighs 3.3 pounds.

It also features a Corei5-2467M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 1,366-by-768-pixel display, optical TPM circuitry, and HP CoolSense. Ports include USB 2.0 and 3.0, Ethernet, HDMI, and a memory card reader.

"This category of product breaks new ground and will be a likely choice for businesses to offer to employees looking for a more consumer-centric experience, said Crawford Del Prete, executive vice president of worldwide research products, and chief research officer, at IDC. "We expect Ultrabooks will re-ignite interest in the small form factor PC category, and by 2015 expect 95 million Ultrabooks will be shipping worldwide annually."

Reacting to the unveiling of HP's new Ultrabook on Wednesday, analyst Brian Marshall of ISI Group offered a head-to-head comparison between it and Apple's MacBook Air. He noted that while the Folio13 is aimed at business users, Apple's MacBook Air lineup targets both consumers and the enterprise.

At $900, the HP Folio13 is about 30 percent cheaper than the $1,300 price tag on the low-end 13.3-inch MacBook Air model. Apple also offers an 11.6-inch MacBook Air starting at $999, or $100 more than HP's business Ultrabook.

White said he applauds HP's competitive pricing for the new Folio13, and he believes the new ultraportable is a "solid entry" for Intel's struggling Ultrabook category. However, he believes that the MacBook Air will retain its market share lead in the face of this latest threat.

Last week it was revealed that other Ultrabook makers, Acer and Asus, slashed their orders for the thin-and-light notebooks by 40 percent. Sales of the Ultrabook line in the first month were said to have been "unsatisfactory" for both companies.

One problem for the first Ultrabooks was that they came in at a higher price range than typical low-cost PCs, and some even had a higher starting price than Apple's MacBook Air. But HP's Folio13 aims to address that with an aggressive $900 entry price.

The Folio13 arrives at a tumultuous time for HP, as the company recently ousted its CEO of less than a year after a series of highly publicized missteps. Among those was a somewhat confusing decision to spin off HP's PC division, which leads the industry in terms of units sold, though the company quickly reversed its decision in October.

I would love to see how this thing fares in real usage scenarios. While they say it gets 9 hours of battery will that really be the case? It's also heavier and thicker than the MBA, but not by much. What is it made of, plastic? (hard to tell from the photos)

The comparisons should not be against the Air, they should be against the other Microsoft cloner machines. What are the specs on a $900 Microsoft cloner laptop? Why would a Microsoft cloner buyer pay $900 when they can get a much more powerful Windows cloner box for less money?

the cloner market is a race to the bottom. The Microsoft cloner buyer has been conditioned to shop on price and spec sheets. This HP clone is DOA just like the other Macbook Air clones...there is no market for them.

I'd love to see a detailed breakdown, even an infograph, of how these various ultra books stack up against each other and to the MBAs. Having separate articles doesn't really offer a good comparison for consumers.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

Why would a Microsoft cloner buyer pay $900 when they can get a much more powerful Windows cloner box for less money?

Because different people have different needs and desires. Duh.

This is one of the new high-end netbooks, like the MacBook Air, and not a powerful machine like a desktop. It is for use by people who value portability over performance, and are willing to pay a premium price for a premium product. Duh.

It is a niche product. It is unlikely to sell in numbers that compare to the "most of the things that most people want" machines. It is not a lowest-common-denominator product like the iOS devices.

This is one of the new high-end netbooks, like the MacBook Air, and not a powerful machine like a desktop. It is for use by people who value portability over performance, and are willing to pay a premium price for a premium product. Duh.

It is a niche product. It is unlikely to sell in numbers that compare to the "most of the things that most people want" machines. It is not a lowest-common-denominator product like the iOS devices.

So contrary to all evidence, you are saying there exists a premium market in the Microsoft clone world? Care to show us this new evidence of such a thing? DUH?

It's not intended to appeal to Mac aficionados, but Windows users who want a lighter/thinner laptop. If I was in the market, for a Windows laptop, I'd go for a Dell XPS 14z. The major advantage of the MacBook Air, besides still being lighter and thinner, is the ability to dual-boot both MacOS X and Windows...

If the Motorola Droid RAZR can advertise that it's only 7.1mm thin despite that only representing the thinnest part of a device that is overall much thicker than the iPhone 4/4S, why can't Apple advertise their MBAs are 3mm thin?

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

Nothing and I mean nothing comes close to being as good as the new Macbook Air.

Keep trying, f$%kin amateurs...

But MacRulez says that it's easy and he would have no problem creating a better ultralight computer than the MacBook Air for less money. Surely, our resident trolls wouldn't make something like that up, would they?

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

I'd love to see a detailed breakdown, even an infograph, of how these various ultra books stack up against each other and to the MBAs. Having separate articles doesn't really offer a good comparison for consumers.

Do you really need to? The fact that the Macbook Air cloners are scaling back production tells you all you need to know.

Do you really need to? The fact that the Macbook Air cloners are scaling back production tells you all you need to know.

That means they aren't selling well, but I'd still like to see more side-by-side comparisons of the ultrabook category. Eventually this will be the normal notebook type to get. Even now the MBA reportedly accounts for more than a quarter of all Mac notebook sales.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

If the Motorola Droid RAZR can advertise that it's only 7.1mm thin despite that only representing the thinnest part of a device that is overall much thicker than the iPhone 4/4S, why can't Apple advertise their MBAs are 3mm thin?

Because thats as retarded as every article trying to connect any windows pc with 'taking on xxx apple pc"

It's a friggin business box, move on. Why not talk about HP updated Envy range, at least that's a little more applicable.